E LIBRARY
UNIVERSITY
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MEMORANDUM
ON
ACTS OF ARAB AGGRESSION
submitted to the
UNITED NATIONS PALESTINE COMMISSION
by the
JEWISH AGENCY FOR PALESTINE
Lake Success, New York
Pebeuaey 2, 1948
MEMORANDUM
ON
ACTS OF ARAB AGGRESSION TO ALTER BY FORCE THE
SETTLEMENT ON THE FUTURE GOVERNMENT OF PAL-
ESTINE APPROVED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE
UNITED NATIONS
submitted to the
UNITED NATIONS PALESTINE COMMISSION
by the
JEWISH AGENCY FOR PALESTINE
Lake Success, New York
February 2, 1948
■^ #
SUMMARY
The Jewish Agency for Palestine submits thai a situation has
arisen in Palestine whose continuance is likely to endanger the main-
tenance of international peace and security. This situation is due to
an attempt by the Arab League and by the Governments represented
therein in concert with the Palestine Arab Higher Committee to alter
by force the settlement envisaged by the General Assembly's Resolu-
tion on the Future Government of Palestine (November 29, 194?,
A/516)— an attempt which, according to Part A of the Resolution,
should be determined (i asa threat to the peace, breach of the peace or
act of aggression."
This aggression is taking three forms :
A. A campaign of threats, incitement and propaganda officially
sponsored by the Arab League and the Governments represented
therein, which is ' ' designed to provoke and encourage a threat to the
peace, a breach of the peace and acts of aggression/ 7 in violation of
the Resolution unanimously adopted by the General Assembly with
reference to Propaganda and the Inciters of a New War (October 28,
1947, A/428) and of Article 2, Paragraph 4 of the Charter.
B. Direct acts of aggression recently organized and sponsored
by the Governments of Syria and Lebanon against the Jewish popula-
tion of Palestine in a manner inconsistent with the Purposes and Prin-
ciples of the United Nations (as defined in Article 1 of the Charter)
and in violation of Article 2,
Q m Threats and preparations for aggression in Palestine now
being made by all or several Governments represented in the Arab
League in violation of Article 2 of the Charter, relating to the "threat
or use of force in international relations" and in a manner inconsistent
with the Purposes and Principles of the United Nations,
INTRODUCTION
In April 1947 the United Kingdom Government as the Man-
datory Power requested the General Assembly (under Article 10 of the
Charter) to make a recommendation on the future Government of
Palestine. The General Assembly, accepting the view repeatedly
expressed by the United Kingdom Government that the United Nations
had jurisdiction to define the form of government in the territory of
the Palestine Mandate, took steps to study and investigate all matters
bearing upon the situation in that country. A Special Session of the
General Assembly held in April and May, 1947, appointed a Special
Committee of the United Nations to investigate all aspects of the Pales-
tine question and present a Keport to the General Assembly. On
September 1, 1947, after a careful investigation conducted in Palestine
and Europe, the Special Committee presented its Report 1 which the
General Assembly referred on September 23, 1947, to an Ad Hoc Com-
mittee, This Ad Hoc Committee appointed two sub-committees, of
which one presented a Resolution for a settlement by Partition and
Economic Union, and the other, composed of Arab and Moslem states,
submitted a Resolution for a unitary Palestinian State. The former
Resolution was adopted in the Ad Hoc Committee by 25 votes to 13.
The latter was rejected by 29 votes to 12. Accordingly, on November
25, 1947, the Ad Hoc Committee presented a Resolution to the General
Assembly involving a settlement of the Palestine question by Partition
and Economic Union, This was adopted by the General Assembly with
33 votes in favor and 13 votes against.
% The General Assembly appointed a 5-power Commission to
implement its recommendation; allotted certain functions to the Trus-
teeship Council and the Economic and Social Council respectively, in
carrying out parts of the plan; and requested the Security Council to
take action under Articles 39 and 41 of the Charter if the situation in
Palestine constituted a threat to the peace. The General Assembly fur-
ther requested the Security Council to determine as "a threat to the
peace, a breach of the peace or an act of aggression any attempt to alter
by force the settlement envisaged by this resolution. *' The General
Assembly finally appealed "to all Governments and all peoples to
refrain from taking action which might hamper or delay the carrying
out of these recommendations."
3. The Resolution adopted on November 29, 1947, was thus the
result of a prolonged attempt by the United .Nations to seek a solution
by inquiry and negotiation. The Arab States, as well as the Arabs of
Palestine, were afforded ample opportunity to submit their views and
proposals to all the organs established by the United Nations to discuss
the future government of Palestine. Their representatives did in fact
present proposals to the Ad Hoc Committee for a constitution estab-
lishing Palestine as a unitary Arab State. 2 These proposals were
examined, discussed and emphatically rejected.
i United Nations Sp e cial C ommittee on Pale stin e. £ ep pit to th e General A ss embl j f
Volume I.
£ Ad Hoc Committee on the Palestine Question* Report of Sub-Committee 2, A/AC,
14/32, KoTcmber 3.1, 1947.
4. The following pages will show that the Arab States in concert
tvith the Palestine Arab Higher Committee are attempting to overthrow)
by force the settlement which the General Assembly has approved and
to impose by force the settlement which the General Assembly has
rejected,
A. PROPAGANDA AND INCITEMENT DESIGNED TO PROVOKE A
BREACH OF THE PEACE.
5. In submitting that there is a purposeful attempt hy Arah
Governments in conjunction with the Palestine Arab Higher Committee
to alter by force the settlement envisaged by the General Assembly *s
Resolution, the Jewish Agency is content to rest on the admissions of
those Governments themselves. The Arah League never intended to
accept the results of any mediation, arbitration or judicial settlement
"When the Report of the United Nations Special Committee was pub-
lished, the Political Committee of the Arab League meeting in Sofar,
Lebanon, on September 16-19, 1947, passed resolutions which included
the following threats ;
"The Committee will regard the implementation of these recom-
mendations (i.e., the ITNSCOP recommendations of the majority and
minority alike) as a certain danger menacing security in Palestine, and
security and peace all over the Arab countries. Therefore it has deter-
mined hy all practical and effective means to resist the implementation
of these recommendations. They — the Palestine Arabs — will launch a
relentless war to repel this attack on their country especially so as they
know that all the Arab countries will bach and assist them, supplying
them with men, funds and ammunition. . , ." 1
6. Subsequent events in Palestine, when the Arabs did indeed
"launch a relentless war" and were "backed by men, funds and am-
munition" from the Arab States, make it clear that the League's state-
ment must he regarded as a plan and not as an abstract prediction. The
"practical and effective means" contrived and advocated by the Arab
States were never envisaged as being limited by the provisions of the
Charter; indeed, the Secretary-General of the Arab League was think-
ing in terms which are quite remote from the lofty sentiments of San
Francisco. "This war," he said, "will be a war of extermination and
a momentous massacre which will he spoken of like the Mongol massa-
cres and the Crusades." 2 In his further observations Azzam Pasha
outlined three characteristics of the future war— the belief in glorious
death as a road to Paradise, the opportunities of loot, and the Bedouin
love of slaughter for its own sake.
l Al-Ahram, Cairo, September 21, 1947,
SAkhbar al-Yom, October 11, 1947.
4
7. Azzam Pasha had made his statement to an Egyptian news-
paper; Jamal Husseini, for the Palestine Arab Higher Committee,
deemed the United Nations a better platform for a call to arms against
the Assembly 's decision : ' ' The partition line proposed, ? ' he said, ' c shall
be nothing but a line of fire and blood," 1
8. At the Sessions of the General Assembly one Arab spokes-
man after another enunciated his conception of the Arab States'
attitude to the settlement of an international problem by international
decision. The Assembly was repeatedly told that it must either ratify
all Arab demands or be met with fierce and widespread violence in the
Arab world. 2
9. When the General Assembly set its own impartial judgment
above this menacing clamor and refused to subject the entire Jewish
population of Palestine to the domination of a unitary Arab State,
violent threat became the keynote of all Arab official utterances. It
was not a propagandist campaign alone ; the aim and effect of these
declarations were to incite Palestine Arabs to active violence and the
populations of the Arab States to active aggression in their support.
On December 1, 1947, Azzam Pasha made a declaration in which he
said : 3
"By no means shall we permit the implementation of the
resolution of the United Nations to partition Palestine. We
shall resist and fight off this resolution with all the means at our
disposal. We have prepared an elaborate plan agreed upon by
the Arab States in the meetings of the League Co%mcil. This
plan is being put into effect for the last two months. . . . The
way of operation has been entrusted to a technical Committee
The time is not a time for talk but for action,"
It is clear that Azzam Pasha was here referring to the Arab
League's decision at Sofar in September 1947 "to make Palestine a
unified independent Arab State," 4
10. The heads of Arab Governments have been as active as the
Arab League spokesmen in provoking and encouraging threats to the
peace in Palestine. Their utterances in this sense are quite unaffected
by their vote in the General Assembly condemning warlike propaganda.
i Proceedings of Ad Hoe Committee on Palestine, Nbemfcer 24, 1047.
2 Speeches bj Syrian Delegate, November 26, 1347, and by Iraqi delegate, November 28,
1947.
3 Al Wanda, Jaffa, Decembor 1, 1947,
4 See above, Paragraph 5*
On September 22, the Iraqi Premier told the press, "I have requested
you to prepare the Iraqi people, especially the youth, for the actions
and sacrifices which may be necessitated by the situation. I now repeat
this request, 151 On October 23, he declared that e Mhe Iraqi army will
march and enter Palestine if the United Nations adopt partition*' Jl On
December 2, the Lebanese Prime Minister stated that " Lebanon had
started carrying out the Arab League's decision to make Palestine a
unitary Arab State. ' 7 He went on to say that i \ the Lebanese Army will
play its part when that time comes/' On January 12, 194S, the Syrian
Premier, Jamil Mardam Bey, declared to youths in Damascus clamor-
ing for arms to fight the Jews that " President Shukri al-Quwatly
approves of the movement of Arab youth and of their readiness for
Jihad in defense of Arab Palestine.' ' z
11, Efforts are sometimes made to portray the assistance given
in Arab States to aggression in Palestine as the voluntary and spon-
taneous actions of excited citizens and not as formal acts of Govern-
ments. Some Arab representatives, however, are too candid for this
subterfuge. Thus in the Lebanese Chamber of Deputies, the Prime
Minister Eiad al Solh said, "I aio speaking under the dome of this
chamber and in this official capacity proclaiming that we shall provide
Palestine with all the arms, funds and men we possess/' 4 On December
7 he said, "The Lebanese Army now on the Palestine borders will play
its part with otheT Arab armies in saving Palestine when the proper
time comes. ' r °
12. The above-quoted statements by Iraqi, Syrian and Lebanese
ministers, designed to provoke and assist aggression against the Jews
of Palestine, are well matched by similar declarations on behalf of
the Governments of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Transjordan.
Indeed, all seven Arab States associated themselves through their
Prime Ministers with a declaration in Cairo on December 17, 1947, in
which they pledged themselves to oppose the United Nations' decision
by force. An announcement to the press after their consultations said :
"Partition is illegal and the Arab Governments will take decisive
measures which will guarantee the defeat of partition." 6 The same
announcement contained a threat by the seven Prime Ministers to
throw the full force of their armies into "the battle . . . until victory
is achieved. 5 ? The communique added: "It now behooves the Arabs to
1 Al-Ahram. September 24, 1947; Beirut, September 23, 1P47,
2 Center's Baghdad, October 23, 1947.
8 Associated Press Damascus, January 12, 1948,
*A1-Ahjamj October 1, 1947,
5 Associated Press Cairo, December 7, 1947,
e United Press Cairo, December 17 ; 1947.
prepare for the struggle." The decisions taken at the Cairo meeting
were subsequently interpreted in separate declarations by its partici-
pants wherein they reaffirmed the attitudes which they had already
proclaimed, -The Prime Minister of Lebanon then said that the Arab
League "had definitely decided to arm Palestine Arabs, reinforce them
with volunteers and collect a war fund to finance an all-out fight in
Palestine. m He went on to say: "We will never sleep until we save
Palestine as an independent Arab unified State, We promise you we
will supply Palestine , - . with weapons, equipment and men. I hope
you will have confidence in the leaders of the Arab League, You shall
witness soon the results of their work. ' ' The Foreign Minister of Saudi
Arabia, Emir Faisal al-Saud, declared: "We promise you to save
Palestine by our souls, money and sons, . . . I am depending nn G-od
and you to maintain Palestine as an Arab independent State." 2 The
Prime Minister of Syria, Jamil Mar dam Bey, said that "the time for
speeches is past and the stage for action is at hand. We should all be
deter mi ned to liberate Palestine by our might and money. m On De-
cember 6, 1947, the Yemenite representative in Cairo, Sayyid All al
Muayyed said : ■ * The Yemenite people are all armed and all are anxious
to fight for Palestine. ,M On the same day the Prime Minister of Trans-
jordan, Samir al Eifai Pasha, said: "My country's forces will be allied
with the rest of the Arab world to fight for Palestine." 5
13. It would be manifestly absurd to contend in the face of these
declarations that Arab Governments bear no responsibility for the
violence and bloodshed which have been provoked in Palestine by their
propaganda and intensified by the participation of their nationals. A
few weeks after the Cairo meeting the Arab League evidently deemed
it prudent to discard all pretense that violent action was not officially
sponsored, As'ad Dagher, Press Officer of the Arab League, convened
a press conference at which he disclosed that the Arab League (i had
recommended that the Arab nations occupy all Palestine with their
regular armies when British troops leave Palestine/'®
14, The Arab leaders in Palestine who acknowledge the ex-
Mufti's leadership are themselves quite conscious that they may rely
on the support of neighboring Governments in their efforts to submerge
the peace of Palestine in a rising tide of bloodshed and aggression.
The adoption of the General Assembly's resolution was the signal for
1AP Cairo, December 15, 1947,
SAP Cairo, December 15, 1947.
SAP Cairo, December 15, 1947.
4AP Cairo, December 6 7 1947.
5 AP Cairo, Docember 6, 1947.
BAP Cairo, January 15. 1948.
attacks on Jewish life and property organized by the Arab Higher
Committee through its local committees and groups in towns and
village areas. A leading member of the Arab Higher Committee, Bmil
Ghoury, informed three American journalists on December 31, of the
Higher Committee's resolve to organise bloodshed in Palestine under
the direction of the Arab League's military committee at Damascus
headed by General Taha al-Hashimi, former Iraq War Minister. 1 Mr.
Ghoury continued: "Arab forces will also include volunteers from
other Arab countries . . . and the war will start at the convenient
opportunity. 7 '
On the basis of these and similar official declarations the Jewish
Agency submits that the seven States represented in the Arab League
are responsible—together with the Palestine Arab Higher Committee—
for conducting propaganda which is designed to provoke and encourage
a threat to the peace, a breach of the peace, and acts of aggression
within the terms of the General Assembly's Eesolution of November
29 ? 1947, in violation of the Eesolution unanimously adopted by the
General Assembly with reference to Propaganda and the Inciters of a
New War (A/428 October 28, 194?) and in a manner inconsistent with
the Purposes and Principles of the United Nations as laid down in
Article 1 of the Charter.
B. DIEECT ACTS OF AGGRESSION.
Attacks organized by Syria and Lebanon against Jewish villages in
North Palestine on January 9, January 14 mid January Ml.
15. On the morning of Friday, January 9, 1948, Arab forces
from Syria attacked two Jewish villages in northern Palestine, Kfar
Szold and Dan, both located near the Syrian border some twenty-five
miles north of Lake Tiberias. 2
A study of Arab statements in Syria, Lebanon and Palestine during
the days preceding this attempted invasion reveals the concern of Arab
leaders at the scanty results of the violence which they had organized
in Palestine. On December 31, Mr, Emil Ghoury of the Palestine Arab
Higher Committee had informed press correspondents that "his only
criticism of attacks by the Arabs was that they are not enough." 3 Dr.
Hussein Khalidi, General Secretary of the Committee, had stated that
the world "would soon see evidence of Arab military skill." Reliable
observers had noticed an increase in the number of "Palestine Libera-
tion Committees" in Syria and Lebanon. In the Qatana camp near
Damascus, allotted by the Syrian army to volunteers for aggression in
2 New Ygrk Herald Tribune, January 15, 3948.
a New York Times, Xew York Herald Tribune, January 10, 1948.
3 New York Times, January 1, 194S,
8
Palestine, hundreds of Arabs from Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Egypt and
Palestine were receiving training for immediate operations. 1
16. The invaders on January 9 numbered about 400: they came
across the frontiers in motor trucks and attacked the Jewish villages
in two waves. They were equipped with modern automatic weapons
and wore uniforms similar to those of the Syrian army. A battle
between them and the Jewish settlers led by Haganah commanders,
raged for three and a half hours before British troops supported by
artillery and Royal Air Force Spitfires intervened to bring the situa-
tion under control. Three Jews were killed and eight were wounded;
the Arabs left some 25 dead*
17. The objects of the attack were varied. According to reliable
reports there was a desire to test the effects of this frontier violation
on United Nations opinion; and it is significant that the aggression
coincided with the first meeting of the United Nations Implementation
Commission. Another object was to provide cover for the infiltration
of Syrian volunteers into Palestine territory. According to a well
authenticated report from Damascus, fi "nine hundred men commanded
by Akram Kaurani moved by truck through Lebanon and crossed into
Palestine near Beit Jebeil. Another six hundred commanded by Abed
Shisbekli entered Palestine by the bridge known as Jisr Banat Yaqub."
The same source is probably correct in defining the main object of the
attack as an effort to sustain Arab morale which "needed . . ♦ . some
sensational victory, such as the capture of a town that would electrify
the Arab world and stir the doubting into action." 3
18. On January 12, the British Foreign Office announced that the
British Minister in Damascus had "called for information from the
Syrian Government and . . . . had expressed the concern of the United
Kingdom Government over the attack and asked that action be taken
to prevent the situation from being aggravated. 7 ' 4
19. No secret was made of official Syrian and Lebanese com-
plicity with these attacks. On January 10, a Palestinian Arab daily 5
reported that the Syrian Defense Minister, Ahmed Sharabatij had
arrived in Lebanon on Thursday, January 8, with a convoy of thirty
lorries carrying 700 Arab recruits from Syria on their way to Merj
Ayun on the Palestine-Lebanese frontier. The British station broad-
1 New York Times, January 19, 1948.
2 New York Times, January 13, 1948,
3 New York Times, January 18, 1948.
4 New York Times, January 13, 1948.
5Al-Sha J ab, Jaffa.
casting in Arabic from Jaffa (Sharq al-Adna) stated that the Lebanese
Defense Minister, Hajid Bey Arslan, had similarly gone to Merj Ayun
for "an important meeting of the Palestine Defense and Liberation
Army. ' '
20, Following a request from the Foreign Affairs Committee
of the Lebanese Chamber of Deputies, the Prime Minister and Defense
Minister reported to the Chamber on January 14, 1948, on the progress
of current aid to the Palestine Arabs. All Lebanese newspapers carried
accounts of these proceedings whose highlights are the following:
The Prime Minister stated that Arab Governments are
determined to fight the partition of Palestine with all their
force. He emphasized that the Arab States have not recognized
and will never recognize the United Nations' decision on Pales-
tine,
The Defense Minister gave what he called "an eye-witness
account" of Arab attacks on Jewish villages in Northern Pales-
tine. il These attacks, " he said, " would he strengthened and
would take the shape of a real war in the near future." He
added "that all activities, such as the collection of funds, regis^
tration and training of volunteers, assembling of arms, etc., are
being supervised by himself and the Syrian Defense Minister in
accordance with the resolutions adopted at the recent Premiers'
Conference in Cairo*" 1
Meanwhile in Damascus, the Syrian Defense Minister, Ahmed
Sharabati, made a statement containing his impressions of the engage-
ment at Dan and threatening ".a direct frontal attack on Jewish forces
in about a month." 2
Attach on Dan and Lehavot
21. The attack of January 9 appears to have established a prece-
dent for the free crossing of the Syrian-Palestine border by Arab
"volunteers." On January 14, Arabs from Syria again attacked the
Jewish settlement of Dan and the younger settlement of Lehavot four
miles south of Dan, blowing up the community's water source and
damaging its fish ponds . This attack originated at Shuta just across
the Syrian border. A British official announcement said that British
troops from MetuUah drove the Arabs off in a battle which lasted an
hour and a half, The Arabs left one dead and withdrew into Syria. 3
i Speeches in the Lebanese Chamber of Deputies, January 14, 1948,
2 New York Times, January 10, 1948.
3AP, January 14, 1948,
10
Attach on Yelviam
22. On January 21, a force of about 400 Arabs crossed the Le-
banon-Palestine border and attacked the Jewish village of Yehiam, 20
miles east of Nahariya in Western Galilee. Nine Jews, including five
settlement policemen, were killed. The attack began at 7 a. m. and
lasted five hours during which time Arabs cut all the bridges and cul-
verts leading to the village. The battle raged for six hours before British
troops arrived. There are 60 adult Jewish settlers at Yehiam.
23. On January 22, a smaller Arab force again crossed the fron-
tier, renewed the attack on Yehiam and was driven off with heavy
casualties. These attacks on January 21 and 22 were carried out by
well-organized uniformed companies with covering support from
mortars. 1
24. Men who infiltrated into Palestine under cover of these at-
tacks have taken part in assaults on Jews in many parts of the country.
Syrian and Iraqi units have been observed as snipers in Haifa, in
attacks on Eamat Kabel (near Jerusalem), and Kfar Etzion (near
Hebron), and elsewhere. 2
Aggression by units of the Transjordan Arab Legion
25. The acts of aggression described above have involved the vio-
lation of the Palestinian frontier at the instigation and behest of the
Syrian and Lebanese Governments in order to commit wanton and
murderous aggression against peaceful Jewish villages and to bring
about a political settlement which the General Assembly has condemned,
by methods which the Charter forbids. Murderous acts against the
Jewish population have also been committed by the Trans Jordan Arab
Legion, a foreign army maintained in Palestine under British command.
These acts, for which the responsibility falls on the Mandatory Gov-
ernment, will be described in a separate submission by the Jewish
Agency.
Summary of Direct Acts of Aggression Already Committed
26 The following Chapter, dealing with preparations for future
onslaughts on the Jews in violation of the Charter and in defiance of
the General Assembly's decision, will make it clear that the mam phase
of Arab aggression is still to come. Yet it would be futile to ignore
1 New York Times, January 22, S3, 1948
SAP
filtered into
Old City of Jerusalem) .
■ Tort Times. January 22, 23, 1948. . .
Jerusalem January 4 1948, reported "Syrians, Lebanese and Trans;] or daman have
StaS the rWs of Sheiih Bakhri" (leader of Arab group in the
11
the fact that aggression has already begun, and that the atmosphere
of impunity in which it has been committed must serve as an encourage-
ment to more ambitious violence in the future. The Syrian and Leba-
nese Governments have already assembled, organized, equipped and
despatched Arab forces to commit aggressive acts against peaceful
Jewish communities in territory wherein Syria and Lebanon have no
right of access or jurisdiction at all Syria is a member of the Security
Council on which the Charter (Article 24) confers "primary responsi-
bility for the maintenance of international peace and security. [ 7 Yet
it is on Syrian territory, with the active support of the Syrian Govern-
ment that forces have been and are being armed and organized for
frontier violation, aggression and attempts to overthrow a decision of
the General Assembly by force. The Lebanon, with other Arab States,
sponsored in the General Assembly a Besohition on "Illegal Immigra-
tion 7 ! amidst many eloquent protestations on the inviolability of
frontiers. Yet the Lebanese and Syrian frontiers offer free passage
for unauthorized entry of men and arms into Palestine under the per-
sonal supervision of the Defense Ministers concerned with the avowed
object of disturbing international peace and security- In Beirut and
Damascus respectively, in close touch and collusion with the Govern-
ments concerned, the two main instigators of the present disturbance
and warfare in Palestine have their abode ; Raj Amin al Husseini, ex-
Mufti of Jerusalem, and Fawzi al Kaivulcji, his accomplice as leader of
the Arab E.ebellion in 1936. Since the Report of the British Royal
Commission 1 signalled these men out for primary guilt in the organiza-
tion of bloodshed a decade ago, they have managed to perfect their
aggressive techniques and ideologies through long residence during the
war in Nazi Germany as allies of the Hitler regime* Through them,
this attack on the very soul of the Charter is connected* in an invidious
but appropriate lineage, with the " scourge of War" from which the
United Nations aspires to "save succeeding generations of mankind." 2
27. The Jewish Agency submits that the relatively limited scope
of these acts of aggression within the past two months does not absolve
the United Nations from the necessity of taking steps to suppress
breaches of the peace and acts of aggression. It is submitted that only
firm and timely international action can avert the full unfolding of the
aggressive design which is now being prepared by certain Member
States of the United Nations.
i Royal Commission Report, Chapter IV, Paragraph 14,
2 Another such link is provided by the Aral) commander in Jaffa and Lydda, Sheikh
Hassan Salami who was described by Mr. Emil Ghoury on December 31, 1S47 T as one of the
moat active men in the field (New York Tines, January 4, 1948). Sheikh Salameh was
dropped in Palestine by parachute as a German Hajor for sabotage duties in 1944,
12
C. PREPARATIONS FOR AGGEESSION BY ARAB STATES AGAINST
JEWS OF PALESTINE AND UNITED NATIONS AGENCIES.
28, The violent propaganda organized by Arab Governments in.
recent weeks, the three acts of aggression committed by Syria and
Lebanon, and the current infiltration of officially sponsored "volun-
teers" are merely the prelude for the main phase of Arab aggression
which is planned to take place in the near future. The Arab League
spokesman, As ? ad Dagher, in his statement on January 15 indicated
that the end of the British Mandate would be the signal for the occupa-
tion of the whole of Palestine by armies of the Arab States, 1 The
Syrian Defense Minister, Ahmed Sharabati, however, declared on Jan-
uary 13, on his return from the operations based on Mexj Ayun against
Dan and Kfar Szold, that "a direct frontal attack against Jewish
forces can be expected in about a month from the Arab People's Army.
Full-scale training and arming are progressing." 2
Recruiting and Training in Syria,
29. According to the Cairo paper, Al-Zaman ? of December 17,
the Arab League Council entrusted the Syrian Government with the
task of organizing "the popular movement for the rescue of Palestine."
Damascus, by all accounts, is now the center of a well-organized move-
ment under the direction of the Syrian Ministry of National Defence,
Ahmed Sharabati, for the recruiting, training and equipment of Pales-
tinian and non-Palestinian Arabs who are to form a "people's army"
for the invasion of Palestine. The Cairo newspaper, Al-Ahram, re-
ported on December 15 that "about 700 Palestinian Arabs are already
training in Qatana barracks near Damascus; their number is growing
by about 100 a day," Later the recruiting movement in Damascus
began to embrace Syrian nationals as well. On December 4, Aref
Nakadi, Governor of Jebel Druz, announced the beginning of recruiL-
ment in his area especially for Druses "who were made for war and
war was made for them." 3 The military commander of Aleppo, Jamil
al-Burhani, announced that recruiting in the northern provinces would
begin on December 8. 4 On December 7, the Damascus newspaper,
Alif-Ba, reported that the Ministry of National Defence had announced
that special recruiting offices would be opened to bedouins "who are
inclined by nature to draw the sword."
iKew York Times , January 1G.
2 A3? Damascus, January 13.
8 Al-Jabalj Damascus, December 4.
* Al-Inshaj Damascus, December 7.
13
30. On December 27 it was reliably reported that 38 senior
officers of the Syrian army had "resigned 7 ' 1 to help train a voluntary
corps. On December 19 the Syrian Defence Ministry announced its
"acceptance of the resignations . . . particularly of army officers who
wish to volunteer for service in Palestine to fight against partition. The
number of those resigning was not immediately discussed.' 7 1 The
leader of the recruiting movement is Fawzi al-Kawukji, who informed
the press on December 9 that 15,000 volunteers were due to complete
training at an early date. 2
Apart from Syrians, the trainees at the Qatana camp include
Palestinians from Jenin, Nablns and Hebron; a group of Lebanese
Moslems; a number of young Iraqis who took part in the pro-Nazi
revolt under Rashid All and a group of young Egyptians headed by
their leader, Ahmed Hussein. 3
According to information at the disposal of the Jewish Agency,
the number of volunteers in Syria is presently as follows :
Damascus 5,700
Aleppo -- -- 5,000
Best of Syria 5,000
Of these, 950 volunteers from Damascus and 400 from Aleppo are
now under training, in addition to the 420 fully-equipped Palestinian
volunteers in Qatana camp,
Recruitmg and Training in Lebanon
31. In Lebanon, recruiting preparations are also in full swing.
On December 18, the British Near East Broadcasting Station in Jaffa
reported that the first group of 500 volunteers who had enlisted for
service in the defence of Palestine had been called up for training by
the Beirut recruiting office. Earlier in December the Mufti of Lebanon,
Muhammed Tawfiq Khalid, made a public "fatwa" (ruling) declaring
a holy war in Palestine. 4 The Egyptian newspaper, Euz el-Tusuf,
reported on December 10 that "Lebanese volunteers have held ma-
noeuvres near Baalbek using a number of batteries which were put at
their disposal by the High Command of the Lebanese Army."
Recruiting and Training in Egypt
32. On December 14 the Damascus newspaper, Al-Insha, re-
ported; " Ahmed Hnssein, leader of the Young Egypt Party, has
arrived in Damascus and entered the Qatana barracks for training.
i AFP — Damascus, December 19.
2 AP— Damaseus, December 9.
3 Qabas, Damascus, December 19.
4 Beirut (daily newspaper), December i.
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14
He began negotiations with Shukri Quwatli, the Syrian President, and
Fawzi al-Kawukji about forming a detachment of Young Egyptians to
he named after Mustafa al-Wakil, an Egyptian who collaborated with
the Maids during the war and died in Germany. On December 16 the
Journal d'Egypte reported that the Egyptian cabinet had authorized
the establishment of recruiting offices for volunteers. On December 23
the Cairo newspaper, Al-Ahram, published a letter from Ahmed
Hussein giving full details of the progress of his work hi the Qatana
barracks. The Egyptian press reflects the impatience of militant
elements with what they regard as a cautious attitude of their Govern-
ment in this recruiting movement. Criticism has been directed against
the Government at the party meetings of Young Egypt ( Al-Ahram, De-
cember 19) 5 the Wafd (Al Husawwar, December 21) and the Liberal
Party (Al-Ahram, December 17) . It would be a fair description of the
position in Egypt to say that while the recruitment of volunteers for
aggression in Palestine lacks something of the governmental drive which
is freely given in Syria, voluntary activity for these purposes is spon-
sored by the Egyptian Government and is encouraged by the militant
leaders of the Arab League secretariat which has its abode in Cairo.
That this movement is gathering strength is clear from the New York
Times, which reported on January 20: "Members of the Kawnkji staff
said they had been negotiating with Arab groups in Egypt, They said
the Nationalist party and the Moslem Brotherhood in Egypt were con-
tributing most of the men for a force that would cross the Sinai Desert
to attack Jewish settlements in the south while the Kawukji force
operated from the Nabhis area,"
Recruiting and Training in Iraq
S3, Recruiting offices of the "Committee for the Rescue of
Palestine" were opened in Baghdad on December 8- 1 On December 12
a number of Iraqi young men who had participated in the pro-Nazi
Eashid Ali rebellion in Iraq of 1941 arrived in Damascus and put
themselves at Fawzi al-Kawukji's disposal. 2
On January 17, 1948, the Egyptian newspaper, Al-Masri, reported
that Jamal Husseini had stated after visiting the Iraqi Vice-Premier
that a well organized Arab Commando group was being formed in Iraq
for special assignments in Palestine.
34, On December 27 Col. Taher Muhammed, a member of the
" Palestine Defence Committee," stated that "two regiments of volun-
teers will be sent to Palestine within a week to figbt for the Arabs,
i Al Sa-a ; December 9.
2 Al Qabas, Damascus*, December 12.
15
They consist of soldiers, non-commissioned officers and officers released
from the Iraqi Army/' The Committee further stated that 100 retired
Iraqi Army Officers would proceed to Syria within a week to train
Syrian officers. 1
According to reliable reports, at least 1,400 Iraqi volunteers have
passed into Syria. Some of the earlier contingents, who arrived in Syria
fully armed, have departed for Palestine after hrief training at the
Qatana barracks.
35. Eeeruiting in other Arab countries has not at the moment
assumed large proportions, although Government statements are on
record which give full authority for any such activity that might he
undertaken. It is evident that the Arab population as a whole is re-
luctant, despite official incitement, to embark on hazardous military
operations. The masses need the encouragement of military success
and the certainty that there will be no strong international reaction
before embarking on a general campaign. The Arab News Agency, how-
ever, reported from Mecca on December 9 that recruiting offices had
only just been opened at Eiyad and other centres. The same News
Agency had reported on December 21 that "hundreds of recruits are
enlisting daily in Saudi Arabia/' On December 8 Azzam Pasha told
the press that "Ibn Saud had placed his regular troops at the League's
service and had given his blessing to any desert tribe that wished to
fight for Palestine. 772
36. In describing these recruiting activities, the Jewish Agency
has mainly relied on Arab reports. No such reliance appears to be
reasonable in regard to the numbers involved. The tendency is to give
exaggerated figures, hut the fact remains that a widespread recruiting
campaign for violence in Palestine is being encouraged and sponsored
by Arab Governments. On December 18 the Ministry of the Interior in
Damascus "warned correspondents against too detailed reporting on
volunteer training and other military preparation in connection with
Palestine.' 73
Arms Purchases
37. Arab Governments who possess State resources and the
access to the open markets are in a good position to ensure that sufficient
arms are available for creating a prolonged breach of the peace in
1 AP, Baghdad; December 27.
2 UP, Cairo, December 8.
3 UP, Da-masons, December 18.
16
Palestine. On December 18 it was reported from Cairo that
military officers of four Arab states have left tie country on a mission
to purchase arms and ammunition as part of the Arab League plan to
prevent the inception of the Jewish State in Palestine. * . . The mission
officers . . . from Egypt, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon . . . plan to visit
Pakistan, India, France, Switzerland, Spain and Czechoslovakia. , . .
The Arab armies, it seems, have no arms surplus and such a move on
the League's part is necessary to supplement the guerrilla arsenals. 3 * 1
38, The Egyptian newspaper, Al-Masri, reported on January 20
that the Mufti had asked the Egyptian Prime Minister for permission
to transfer to Palestine all arms and ammunition acquired by his
agents and envoys in Egypt, the Western Desert and Libya, On Jan-
uary 14 the same newspaper stated that all arms used by Iraqi volun-
teers in Palestine were modern weapons received from Britain and
further that the Egyptian Government was preparing legislation which
would enable Palestinian Arabs to acquire arms in Egypt and transfer
them to Palestine.
39. On January 28 it was reported from Cairo: iS Ahmed Hus-
scinj leader of the Young Egyptian Party, stated that the Egyptian
Government had supplied several thousand rifles to Palestine Arabs-
He said that they were given to the ex-Mufti of Jerusalem/' 2
40* In this connection, the Jewish Agency has to draw special
attention to the grave and singular feature of Arab arms purchases,
which is the availability of British arms to Arab Governments and their
potential use by those Governments for aggression in Palestine. This
feature of the situation will be referred to in a further memorandum.
Infiltration into Palestine
41. Another stage in the assistance by Arab Governments to the
projected plans of invasion and war in Palestine is the violation of
frontiers between their own territories and Palestine by the infiltration
of volunteers and armies. According to reliable reports and incon-
testable evidence, this process has been going on for several weeks. As
already pointed out, attacks from Syria and Lebanon against Jewish
villages in North Palestine served as cover and screen for the infiltra-
tion of hundreds of volunteers who are taking up their positions in
Palestine in preparation for future aggression. On January 9, the
i New York Times fiom Cairo, December 18.
2 APj January 28.
17
New York Times contained the following report from the Associated
Press in Baghdad:
U A convoy of Iraqi volunteers — ninety commandos and instruc-
tors released by Iraq's Army — left today en route to Palestine.
The contingent, which includes officers, is supplied with light
arms, including machine gnus and grenades. It will instruct
and train volunteers. Other such groups are expected to leave
Baghdad soon."
On January 15 the Associated Press from Baghdad reported that
Jamal Husseini, Vice-President of the Palestine Arab Higher Execu-
tive, had witnessed the departure of 200 trained Iraqi volunteers for
Palestine. On January 25 reports were published of the arrival in
Palestine of 750 armed men from Iraq via Transjordan and their
concentration in Tubas in the Nablus area. According to the New York
Times of January 26 Arab sources stated that these fighters "had been
deployed through a wide area/' The Jewish Agency is able to confirm
the accuracy of the following two reports published in the New York
Times of January 26. The first report from the newspaper's corres-
pondent in Damascus reads:
"Fawzi el-Kawukji, Commander in Chief of the Arab People's
Army, was reported today to be preparing to leave for Palestine,
The number of his men who have crossed the Lebanese and
Syrian frontiers to gather in the mountain region around Nablus
in Palestine was said to exceed 3,500.
"Mr, Kawukji ha-s organized a 'general staff,' which will
enter Palestine with him to direct operations. The volunteer
army is under order not to become involved in major operations
but to concentrate on organization.
" Asked when he would depart, Mr. Kawukji said; * Never
mind the date, but when I go the whole world will know.' ?J
The second report comes from the United Press in Beirut on
January 25, and reads as follows :
"One thousand well-trained Arab soldiers slipped into Palestine
from Lebanon, Trans-Jordan and Syria during the past two
nights, reliable sources said today. It was said to have been the
third large wave of volunteers to infiltrate into Palestine since
the United Nations decided to create Arab and Jewish States,"
42. On January 26, the Jerusalem correspondent of the New York
Herald Tribune reported the following details of the arrival in Pales-
tine of Syrian and Iraqi volunteers:
18
"The 750 Syrians and Iraqis formed the largest contingents of
volunteers yet to reach Palestine in preparation for the coming
Arah war on partition. Unlike Abdul Kadir's men, who follow
the Mufti and concern themselves with local fighting now, the
foreigners arrived under the auspices of the Arab League.
Reportedly, they were under instructions to confine themselves
to training and familiarizing themselves with the country.
"The men traveled in column, accompanied by a mule train
to ford the Jordan River and a dozen trucks with supplies. The
trucks were allowed to cross the river at Jisr el-Majami, in north-
eastern Palestine, where troops of Abdullah's Arab Legion
guard a bridge.
u Their equipment included radio, Br en and Sten guns, rifles
and mortars. British police believed they also had light armored
cars and perhaps a few field pieces* They brought their own
food and for two days camped in tents pitched in the Arab-
controlled valley around Tubas, a town half-way between Jeru-
salem and the Sea of Galilee.
"A Government spokesman said a full report had been sent
to London. ' ?
Financial Assistance
43, Direct assistance given by Arab States to aggression in
Palestine also takes the form of financial contributions for the recruit-
ment and equipment of armed forces preparing for active violence in
Palestine. The Minister of the Interior of Syria announced on Decem-
ber 20 that "the sole body authorized to collect money for Palestine
would be a committee to be appointed by him." 1 The Arab League
Council had recommended at Sofar "that the League States allocate
immediately the requisite funds for this purpose" (i.e. of raising funds
for war in Palestine). 2 It is reported that a subscription of over four
million dollars has been made by Arab States for the purchase of arms
in aid of the Palestinian campaign. On December 17 the New York
Times reported from Beirut that "money for the Arab cause appears to
be plentiful. The Syrian Parliament has allocated two million Syrian
pounds and the Lebanese Government another million pounds. Another
1,500,000 pounds have been raised from individuals in the two
countries, 7 '
44, An unsavory feature of Arab attempts to increase the revenue
available for arms purchases has been a campaign of extortion from
i Arab News Agency, December 20.
2Ai-Ahram, October 10.
19
helpless Jewish minorities in Arab countries. On December 10 the
Jews of Egypt were "called upon" to contribute generously to the
Save Palestine Fund. The eall was published in the organ of the
"Moslem Brethren" by the Youth Section of the Al-Azhar University. 1
In Syria (where seven synagogues were burnt in Aleppo by a rioting
mob early in December) the Jewish Community Council was forced to
collect funds and hand them over to the Arab Committee for the pur-
chase of arms to kill their Jewish brethren in Palestine. The atmosphere
existing in Lebanon can best be described through the following extract
from a Beirut newspaper r
"It has been reported that Jews of Saida visited this office in
order to complain about the attacks to which they have been sub-
jected (he* by Arabs), They have now condemned the partition
of Palestine and have declared their willingness to contribute
money for Palestine (he. for the Arabs of Palestine). We have
been informed that the Committee of the Office has reassured
the Lebanese Jews that despite personal acts of hostility no fu-
ture malevolence is intended against them. In the opinion of
the Committee, Lebanese Jews can do nothing against the secur-
ity of Arab peoples, , . .
"Donations can be sent directly to the permanent office in
the city*"
CONCLUSION
45, In its task of determining whether a threat to the peace, a
breach of the peace, or an act of aggression exists, the Security Council
may be guided by the view of the General Assembly that any or all of
those three situations is created by "an attempt to alter by force the
settlement envisaged by this Resolution.*' The Arab (rovernments
have jointly and severally defined their objective in almost those very
words* (See Paras. 5-13 above). Indeed it is axiomatic that a violent
revolt against an international judgment cannot fail to threaten inter-
national peace and security since it constitutes a defiance of the very
organization to whose care the preservation of peace has been en-
trusted,
46. The Jews of Palestine with the full support of the Jewish
Agency will do their part in resisting this aggression against their
lives, their future and their internationally sanctioned rights* They
regard the General Assembly's Resolution as a compromise reached
i Jewish Te3egrapMc Agency, December 11 reporting article in Al Iklnran al Muslimnn.
2 Airttihad al Lubnani, December 22.
20
by judgment between conflicting claims. This compromise makes heavy
demands upon them in terms of sacrificing historic claims— and claims
which had previously received international consent. The Palestine
Mandate reserved an area of 45,000 square miles from the scope of
Arab Independence for "the primary purpose of establishing a Jewish
National Home." Transjordan was later excluded from this purpose;
and now half the area of Western Palestine is allotted to the Arabs as
their eighth sovereign state. Thus on seven-eighths of the area of the
original Palestine Mandate two Arab States are to be established for
the independence of 1,500,000 Arabs who form 80% of the Arab popula-
tion in the area of the original Palestine Mandate. The "primary pur-
pose of the Mandate" is expressed, at a time of greatest Jewish need, by
the constitution of a Jewish State in one eighth the area originally
set aside for Jewish immigration and development. This restriction
of Jewish claims was approved by the United Nations, in an effort to
meet Arab interests and in deference to the cause of peace, after pro-
longed and minute investigation of the problem in the light of the
Charter and with a view to seeking the maximum degree of self-deter-
mination attainable in present conditions. There is thus no justified
sense of unredressed grievance to which the Arabs can have recourse.
Indeed they frankly acknowledge that their aim is to deny all Jewish
rights of national freedom and establish a monopoly of independence
in their own behalf.
47. In their determination to resist any encroachment on the
rights which the General Assembly has approved, the Jews are not
fighting for themselves alone. What has been outlined m these pages
is a total assault upon the principles of the Charter and the authority
of the United Nations. The Arab States are taking effective collective
measures for the creation of "threats to the peace," and the encour-
agement of "acts of aggression" in direct violation of Article 1 of the
Charter In defiance of Article 2 they are employing "in their inter-
national relations the threat or use of force." Regardless of Article
2 Paragraph 5 they decline to "give the United Nations every assist-
ance in any action it takes in accordance with the present Charter."
They turn a deaf ear to a specific appeal from the General Assembly
(November 29) to abstain from "any action which might hamper or
delay the carrying out of its Resolution." They flout a unanimous
Resolution of the General Assembly which "condemns propaganda, in
whichever country conducted . . . which is designed to provoke and en-
courage a threat to the peace, breach of the peace and acts of aggres-
sion " They carry their defiance of the United Nations to the point
of conspiring against the lives of representatives and officers of the
21
United Nations carrying out their responsibilities under the Charter,
They undermine the basic purpose of the United Nations "that armed
force shall not be used except in the common interest" (of the United
Nations). The world is thus faced with an attempt to hold up the
Charter to mockery and violation in pursuit of ambitions which have
been judged and found inadmissible by the highest tribunal of inter-
national opinion. The Jewish Agency is convinced that the success of
this challenge would spell the everlasting discredit of the United Na-
tions; and is confident that the Jews in defending their own national
rights are also defending the most significant and universal of human
ideals.
48. The Jewish Agency therefore appeals to the Security Coun-
cil through the United Nations Palestine Commission to take the action
prescribed in Chapter VII of the Charter against a threat to the peace,
a breach of the peace and acts of aggression provoked, committed,
threatened and prepared by the Arab States, members of the Arab
League, in concert with the Palestine Arab Higher Committee.
Copies of this publication have been filed with the Depart-
ment of Justice, Washington^ D. C, where the registration of
the Jewish Agency for Palestine as an agent of the Jewish
Agency for Palestine, Jerusalem, is available for public inspec-
tion. The fact of registration should not be considered as
approval by the United States Government of the contents of
this publication.
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